Riad Matar is closing his Springfield restaurant to go to Syria and help his family. He estimates he has a 50/50 chance of coming back alive. Valerie Mosley/News-Leader

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There were protests earlier this year in Riad Matar's hometown of Yabroud, Syria. / ASSOCIATED PRESS

ABOUT THE CONFLICT

The current conflict in Syria is noted as having officially begun on March 15, 2011, when simultaneous protests were held in major cities across the country. Protesters are calling for the end of the Ba’ath Party, which has been in power continuously since 1963, and the resignation of President Bashar al-Assad, who assumed office following his father’s death in 2000. According to an Aug. 17 report from the BBC, activists have estimated the conflict has left at least 21,000 people dead. The International Committee of the Red Cross, a humanitarian organization based in Switzerland, declared the conflict a civil war in July.

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When Riad Matar left Syria on Sept. 29, 1982, he told himself he would never go back. For three decades, he never questioned that decision.

Until now.

“I never thought I want to do this,” said Matar, who still speaks in occasional broken English after years in the United States.

In light of recent violence, Matar, the owner of Riad restaurant in Springfield, is hoping to return to his native country to visit his family later this year, and he’s willing to risk his life and abandon his business to make that happen.

Granted, violence is nothing new in Syria — it was part of the reason that Matar originally left the country in 1975 and why he decided he wanted to make his 1982 return trip his last. The current civil war in Syria dates back to March 2011, part of the broader Arab Spring uprisings that have developed across the Middle East in the past two years.

But in the past three months, Matar says, the violence in Syria has changed. Sure, it’s increased, but that’s not the big change. More than ever, Matar says, women and young children — innocent bystanders — have been targeted.

During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, for example, which just ended Aug. 18, Matar said he repeatedly heard about bombs going off in shopping centers during the hours in which Muslims would traditionally be buying food for their post-sundown meal.

“That means you’re not targeting the rebels, you’re targeting the civilians,” he said. “That’s the concern about it.”

It might seem illogical, but that increasing violence — “a massacre every day,” as Matar puts it — tells him it’s time to go home.

He has no interest in joining the revolution, and he doesn’t think he has any right to tell the Syrian people how their country should be run. But he does want to see his family.

“I just want to go over there as the oldest one in the family … to be there for them,” he said.

Matar’s mother, two sisters and one of his brothers, along with their children, remain in Syria. He also has brothers in Kuwait and Dubai.

Matar’s planned trip has posed a business challenge. He signed an eight-year lease for his restaurant’s East Republic Road location in June. Typically, the only way he’d be able to get out of it would be by declaring bankruptcy.

However, Matar’s landlord is sympathetic to his situation.

Ron Tappan, an agent with Carol Jones Realtors, is working with Matar to allow a new tenant to buy Matar’s business and then write up a whole new lease.

Tappan said Matar has been a good tenant and friend in the 10 years he has known him, which made him comfortable with the unusual arrangement.

Tappan is optimistic the negotiations, which he described as “almost in the final stages,” will be successful. If so, the lease for the new owner would start Oct. 1.

Matar said he will look into reopening in a different location in Springfield upon his return. But that’s not really his focus right now.

The violence has destroyed 90 percent of his family’s property, he said. Before, his mother and siblings were able to focus on business; now, they just focus on survival. Matar, who has a background in civil engineering, wants to go back so he can give advice.

“That way we can assess really the damage we have here,” he said.

But Matar will also have to be focused on his own survival in his native country, especially given that the Syrian people are currently very wary of Americans.

The logistics also present a challenge. Matar regrets that he no longer has a Syrian passport and dual citizenship. As of now, he plans to get a Jordanian visa so he can fly to Amman and then make his way to a border town where he would illegally cross the border into the country.

“I will be walking five miles and riding the rest of the way to my hometown,” he said.

His family now lives in Inkel, a town located about 45 miles south of Damascus. Matar was born in Yabroud, which is 65 miles northeast of the capital.

In order to visit his family in Syria, Matar will be leaving behind another in the United States — his wife of over 30 years, three sons and two grandchildren.

Ultimately, the trip is something that Matar feels he needs to do. His early morning viewings of the Al Jazeera network have left him feeling unlike his normal self. While online Yelp and Urbanspoon reviews of his restaurant from past years speak of Riad mingling with the guests, he says that hasn’t been happening this summer.

“I can hardly talk to anyone now,” he said. “I sit in the kitchen … I can notice this summer I’m not the same.”

And so it’s time to break the promise he made to himself 30 years ago, in order to help his family through the violence.

“That’s why I want to go over there — to make sure their dream’s not gone.”